So how about Gordon Kirby’s article relating his Mexico City experience this past weekend. What a way to go into the off-season! Talk about positivity!

I hate to say it, but Chip makes sense about coming back next season. Not that I want to disagree with Chip, its more like I want more cars and teams in ChampCar. But for any new teams to invest an entire season before the new beginning takes place in 2007 doesn’t make a lot of sense. There are a couple of arguments on both sides, no question about it. On the one hand

1) spending all that money on a chassis that will be obsolete in one miserly year doesn’t make much sense. Bringing in a team to train on a chassis that won’t be there in 2007 is a hard thing to do. Not to mention the driver himself. Sure, there are many drivers who are available that have the current Lola experience. Nevertheless, it’s a difficult task to achieve cause these drivers would be more expensive than a rookie driver. But what’s the point of a rookie driver if he can’t learn that much from his rookie season since it will be a brand new in 2007.
2) But:
Look at PKV. They started two years ago as PK racing. Jimmy jumped on board in 2004 and things were looking good. They had their ‘rookie’ season in 2004 and this year, as a ‘two’ year team posted a win in Portland and a few podiums from my man Jimmy Vasser. But, the team admitted in Long Beach that they were behind the eight ball. Although they had existed for two seasons, they weren’t where they wanted to be. That team went through a bunch of changes. They certainly didn’t just add a V to the team’s name.

3) So,
A new team would have a leg up on the competition in 2007 if they started next season. The driver would gain experience on the tracks. No matter what chassis, no matter what speed, knowing the track is very important. We have seen it time and time again. And it may be a cliché, but a team needs time to gel. Whether it’s the driver-engineer relationship, or a couple of crew guys from different towns. It’s a team sport. These people need to be on the same page and sometimes that takes a bit of time.
The bottom line is that no true great teams/sports franchises were built in a day. Most championship teams have gone through years and years of hardship/preparation. A lot of teams have gone through entire seasons knowing that this wasn’t their years to win the championship. They knew they were building for the future. That’s what a new team could do in 2006 in the Champ Car World Series. Start building for the future.

Well, the season is over. Now we patiently wait for 2006 amidst the sea of rumors and speculations and hearsay. This is a time when a reporter needs to fill content for 4 months and quite often there is little substantial content to fill. So, let’s start rumors and whatnot. Nothing too wrong with that, as long as the rumor is clearly stated in the article or told by the reporter. Wild rumors can even be fun, as we have seen in the past. They just need to be taken with a grain of salt before being digested.

The good news in the case of Champ Car is that very little negative can come out of this off-season. Unlike years past, all the delays were cause for concern. Every new ChampCar story seemed to have a negative spin on it, even when it was the schedule being announced or team joining the series. This year, the series has its feet firmly planted on the ground. The schedule is out, the teams are set (not necessarily the drivers, but that’s part of the fun), and the broadcast schedule is out. It’s an off-season when fun questions and debates will take place, as opposed to doomed versus staying alive debates take place. Oh sure, you’ll have a few reporters who will mark down the negatives, like Korea, for example. But that’s just because as reporters, they can’t pretend a product is perfect. That’s not, by definition, the job of the reporter. He needs to bring questions to the table. She needs to look past the spindoctors and report what she sees. Even when there’s little negative to write about, reporters will find it. It’s their way of “reporting”.

I wonder how much money AGR is throwing at DaMatta? The whole thing makes little sense to me. There are plenty of good drivers out there and Andrettti goes for DaMatta? By the looks of it, he’s trying to recreate CART in 2000 with Dario, Brian , possibly Cristiano and Tony. And if it’s true that they are offering less money to Wheldon than they pay Dario, then I hope he does leave. Simply because he comes off as the type who would whine and pout and leave a team based on being a baby about it.
And Wheldon might go to Chip, who would switch to Honda. Why doesn’t Toyota just pull out now? It looks like they might be fielding just one team next year? Come on, save yourself and get out. If Roger switches, then your operation in the IRL officially ceases to exist. And what’s Carpentier doing next year?
A good friend of mine handed the 2006 Vanderbilt Cup to Justin Wilson, claiming not only he’s the best, but that Bourdais’ downfall will be his lack of motivation. Interesting theory.

Congratulations to Justin Wilson and the Rusport team for finishing the season in dominant fashion and making your case for 2006. Securing that team in your pool next season and ride with them all year long. We know Tracy is supposed to stay for 2006, so hopefully this great drive and podium finish will encourage him to stick around. Same with Jimmy. This series needs Jimmy!

Here are some driver quotes:

Justin Wilson #9 CDW Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “It feels great. I just want to carry on from what AJ was saying. Friday we really struggled. AJ was fantastic. I saw his setup. We kind of evolved each other and were able to work together like that to try different things, see if it works. If it doesn't work, we got the other car to back up on. That's what we did this weekend. It's great. The team has done a fantastic job, like AJ said. They really deserved the 1-2. Hopefully we can get a few more next year.”
AJ Allmendinger #10 Intel Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “From yesterday morning on, we were struggling. Justin gave us a real boost when he got pole because we had a lot of data to look at. He had a fantastic car. You know, today we kind of went with his setup. The first stint I think I was actually a bit quicker than him, but I couldn't get around him. He seemed to be struggling, his tires wore down a bit. I couldn't get around him because he kept going good on the straightaway. From then on, it was just a struggle. I think I'd be a bit quicker, every time he put a set of tires on, the first half, then he was able to stretch out the second half of the stint on the tires. I think I finished where I should have finished, second. A big reason was using Justin's setup from this morning. They had found something, and I think that's what's making the team so good: we're able to use setups off of each other and make each other better.
Paul Tracy #3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “It was a frustrating day for us. I got to look at the replay, but I think Sebastien touched me in the first corner. We had two cuts in the side wall tire, a flat. I made a good start, got by AJ. I was in second place. Somebody touched me in the back tire, punctured it. Came in, changed it. Three-quarters of a lap behind. Just driving, catching up, catching up. We got a pit stop underway. The yellow came out, which really played into our hands. The restart with Rodolfo, I made the restart better than him, got by him. He made a big dive bomb to try to get back by. We were fighting. Ended up touching. I gave him a flat tire. That kind of led into me blocking AJ on the track and trying to keep him behind me. Then there was a drive-through penalty. After that, pretty much thought we were out of it. Again, we were three-quarters of a lap behind everybody. Was driving, running a good pace. Started to catch up. Passed some guys. We got a couple lucky yellows at the end. I had a lot of 'push to pass' left, was able to make positions back. So good result.”
Oriol Servia #2 PacifiCare Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “We had to pit two laps early for the first stop because we had a fuel pressure problem. It’s a shame because we were in third place and I thought I could bring the PacifiCare team another podium finish to end the season but it was not meant to be. We were running well but when we got low on fuel the car lost fuel pressure and we had to pit early each time. Actually on the last lap I ran out of fuel and was hoping to get to the checkered flag and keep the fourth place. It was not running well but it was good enough to get to the end. The car was fine on the last restart. I knew Glock (ahead) didn’t have any Push to Pass left and I knew Tracy (behind him) had five shots when I had only three. I was hoping I was going to happen is that Glock had a good exit out of the corner so I could get his tow then pass him with the Push To Pass towards the end of the straight but Glock almost lost the car so he had a bad exit of the corner so I had to pull alongside of him at the beginning of the straight which gave two perfect tows to PT and he passed me by Start / Finish. Then I was really close to Tracy on the last lap. He was pushing hard and making little mistakes. It’s a shame how it ended but nice to finish fourth given the problem. This season was incredible; just the difference between the way it started and the way it finished. I’m pleased to finish second in the championship; it’s a big achievement for me and for the PacifiCare team too.”

Timo Glock #8 DHL Global Mail Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “We had a very good race car today, accompanied by great pit stops from my crew and a good race strategy thanks to my engineers. As for the incident with Mario (Dominguez) he had been blocking me a little bit, and then when we were heading into Turn 1 I saw the opportunity to try and make a pass on him from the inside. He slid while I was moving in then locked up his brakes and we made contact. I am sorry that had to happen for Mario and all of the fans in Mexico City, we were just racing and I did not mean for that to happen what so ever. After the last restart when I was sitting P3, I had no Power-to-Pass left but (Paul) Tracy and (Oriol) Servia did, so they were able to get around me. Overall, it is a good finish to the weekend and the season for the Rocketsports team. I am sorry I wasn’t able to finish on the podium for them, but I am happy that we were able to finish in the top five.”

Jimmy Vasser #12 Gulfstream/PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “The race here has always been a track position race and we didn’t have it from the start. We moved up some places a little bit in the end and got another top-six finish, but it was just one of those races. I am happy that the PKV Racing team placed both cars in the top-10 in the final standings, but I am a little disappointed that we didn’t have one car in the top-five. The PKV Racing team made some progress this season and showed improvement, but we still have a way to go if we are going to consistently contend for championships.”

Alex Tagliani #15 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “We were a little bit lucky today to finish where we did but I’m not complaining. It was a great effort from the team to run the Lola chassis for the first time this year. Team Australia has shown a lot of potential and we are fighting in the championship with some pretty strong teams and it is definitely not an easy competition. This first year was a real learning year. We know we have some work to do on straight line speed and dampers to come on strong in 2006. The most important thing for me today was to try to keep out of trouble and that’s how we ended up with a solid top ten result. Next season starts tomorrow and I am looking forward to working with Will – I am sure we are going to make a great combination.”

Will Power #5 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “It was great to today to get a full race under my belt. The first yellow flag messed up my race a bit because my fuel economy was excellent and I probably could have gone two or three laps further than anybody. My pit stop got a bit messed up as well because I nearly pulled into the wrong Team Australia pit – it was a bit confusing. From then on it was a bit of a struggle because I was stuck in traffic. I had a really good car but getting through the traffic was pretty tough. Especially at the end the Aussie Vineyards car was excellent – it was very strong. Looking forward to next year it will be great to enter my first full rookie season with two races already under my belt. Today was certainly the longest race I have done in an open wheel car and it was tough at times, but physically I felt really strong at the end.”

Michael McDowell #31 Commercial Defeasance Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “The #31 Rocketsports car was really good in the middle of the race when we were running on black Bridgestone tires. For some reason, we were not running very quick on the reds this afternoon. We had some great pit stops, gaining a few spots, so I want to thank the Rocketsports crew for doing such a great job for me. At the end of the race, we were in a good battle with Will Power fighting for the tenth spot, but things just didn’t work out for us. Even though we finished about the same as we did in Surfers Paradise, I feel much better in the car and it was a very positive experience for me. I am very happy with how this weekend wrapped up, despite not finishing in the top ten.”

Mario Dominguez #7 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “I’m really disappointed. Timo (Glock) was using all his Power to Pass to get by me and I was trying to save mine, and that was pretty much a dive-bomb move to get past when we came together. It was very late and he had to know I had no place to go, but that’s racing. But the fans were great and it was terrific to hear them cheering me after the race. It was good to be running at the front with a podium in my sights here in my hometown, so I’m going to have a good time tonight.”

Charles Zwolsman #25 Aussie Vineyards Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “I am definitely pleased to get through to the finish in my first ever Champ Car race. I worked hard in the first two stints to try and save fuel and I made a mistake on my second stop when I came in one lap too early. I learnt a lot today – the race was really good. Physically it was a lot tougher than an Atlantic race, especially when they put on the red Bridgestone tires – the extra grip made the steering really heavy. This is my first ever race with pit stops was it was a great experience for me. I really have to thank Champ Car, the Atlantic series and Team Australia for this opportunity. The guys did a great job for me – they didn’t rush me at all and helped me a great deal throughout the weekend.”
Cristiano Da Matta #21 Bell Micro/PKV Racing Ford- Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “The Bell Micro/PKV Racing team had a top-five car today and that is where we ran all race. Then toward the end of the race Bourdais (Sebastien) hit me at the end of the straight and knock me to the back of the line. It is very disappointing because we wanted to have a good finish today and were in a good position to do that. The good thing is that we did get some points, which put us in 10th place in the championship. Tenth place is 10th place, but it gives the PKV Racing team two cars in the top-10 in the championship standings.”
Rodolfo Lavin #55 CTE-HVM Inc. Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “I am disappointed because I definitely think we had a top-six car today. It was a fantastic feeling to lead the race and I had a very good battle with Paul Tracy, I am pretty disappointed about the maneuver he made which ruined my race, but I made a good pass on him, it just didn’t go our way. I knew at the re-start that the two or three cars behind me had red tires on so I knew they would be much faster. That was a very tough stint because I had flat spotted the right front tire and when I came in with the flat rear from Tracy, we only changed the flat tire, so I had to run almost the entire stint on flat-spotted tires which made the handling extremely challenging. After the next stop when I took my reds, I had a great time out there, while I was disappointed to be in the position at the back, I had a good time because my times were so fast. The Bridgestone Alternative red tire was absolutely incredible. My crew gave me a great car this weekend and I am looking forward to next year, thanks to my sponsor Corona for their incredible support.”

Homero Richards #50 NEXTEL Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “This weekend was an incredible experience for me. Obviously our results were not as strong as we had wished for, but I think it was a successful weekend for me in a lot of ways. I know have my first Champ Car race under my belt, I made no mistakes we had a clean race and I learned so much. In fact, when the crew radioed me to tell me the race was over in one lap, I just couldn’t believe it, I was ready for 70 laps more! Thanks to NEXTEL for their support and giving me this opportunity, I hope I can come back and give them great results next year.”

Sebastien Bourdais #1 McDonald’s Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “It was a good season overall for the McDonald’s team and we had finished every race until this one. It would have been good to keep this going. I’m not sure what the exact problem was but we had a big fuel consumption problem. We had an issue with the engine; we were maintaining the mileage but it was really difficult because we had to apply the correction. All of a sudden we went from 2.18 mpg to 2.05, 2.0 and 1.70, 1.65 and then I thought we would have to make five pit stops during the race instead of two. I lost my temper and when I came into the pits I knew we would have to put more fuel than everybody else and were going to lose three or four spots so I tried to brake late and hit everybody (fueler Brian Hannon and tire changer Norm Hornitschek). We changed the ECU (engine control unit) and the car was better. After that I went through the field pretty well and were in a decent spot and would have ended up with a top-five finish. I’m not totally sure what happened with da Matta. Both da Matta and I braked late but he spun around in front of me and I had to brake even harder and we got together because there was no where for me to go. It’s a shame we had to finish like that. PT (Paul Tracy) at the start didn’t give me much room and I barely touched his right rear tire and that’s why he had the puncture. That was a pretty messed up race. We were not going to win it; we had two fast cars in front of us (RuSport). I think we had a pretty good car but we would have needed a completely trouble free race to have a chance. It was going to be tough to get ahead of the two RuSport cars but at the end of the day you never know what is going to happen. I just wanted to finish well.”

Ronnie Bremer #19 American Medical Response Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: “I had a great start, I made up five positions on the start without using my P2P. Unfortunately before the first stint I was fighting over steer and lost in trying to correct. It was a huge disappointment also because I lost the tenth position in the championship, which was important for my team and American Medical Response and very important to me as well. I am looking forward to a very competitive 2006 Champ Car season.”